Selena is an intelligent and gifted young woman. She very much enjoys being at school and going to her science class - Selena says the experiments are the most exciting part of her day. Her desire to be a registered nurse keeps her on the right path.

In her spare time, Selena likes to play basketball and she's pretty good. At home, she watches a variety of reality TV shows and listens to hip hop and R&B. Her favorite show is Bad Girls Club and her favorite artists are Beyonce, Lil Wayne and Ciara. When she isn't busy with schoolwork or bored at home, Selena goes to the movies where she will see pretty much anything. She likes to keep busy.

Selena wants a smaller family that can give her a lot of attention. A family who keeps busy and can teach Selena to express her emotions appropriately would be a perfect fit - as long as they encourage her to follow her path to a good future.

Tell Us About You

We love to tell stories about our wonderful foster and adoptive families. If you know a good HCJFS story, email Jane Prendergast or call 513-946-2195.

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Markowski family growing

While she was growing up, Amy Markowski lived with foster kids moving in to her family's house. So she knew a lot about fostering and felt called to follow in her parents' footsteps.

She and her husband, Joel, adopted three last week - Marlayshia, 7, Bryson, 3, and Charlynn, 1. They fostered the sibling set since November 2012, so the kids were already adjusted to their home and happy to have more siblings. There are six children in the home now and three others are grown.

"We call it organized chaos," Amy says, laughing.

She offered this tip for managing such a large household: On car rides, assign seats. That helps cut down on the arguments over who sits next to whom.

And the family's about to grow again. Amy is pregnant and due this fall with what will be their tenth child.

Could you be #theone for a kid who needs you?

Even though not everyone at JFS works in Children's Services, we all care about finding homes for kids available for adoption.

In honor of #theone campaign, staff from all around the agency put on foam fingers to ask if you could be #theone to help a great kid in a tough spot.

Check out our group picture:

Also, make sure to watch our newest #theone campaign video. We have wonderful young ladies in Hamilton County care who can't wait to be adopted by a loving, committed family.

FAMILY Fund

Hamilton County Job and Family Services now has a way to help foster children make college visits, provide toiletries or toys to abused children and aid low-income families with needs beyond job assistance, food and medical care.

For example, the agency might not have funds to cover a foster child's expenses to participate in an after-school sport, wear a cap and gown to graduation or take a trip to visit a college. If that child graduates and finds a good job, that agency cannot help pay for a car or car insurance to see that he or she makes it to that job.

Now, the FAMILY Fund gives local residents a way to make tax-free donations to assist in paying for these types of expenses.

"I think everyone would agree these types of expenses are important and integral to any child having a normal experience in life," said Hamilton County Commissioner Chris Monzel. "These children come from tough situations; we want to make their lives easier, not harder. We have found a way to help without adding to the taxpayer burden."